Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said meeting federal demands for the personal data of food program recipients could cost the state $100,000. (Sam Bailey/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — State leaders continued to stand firm against federal demands for personal data of Kansans who have received food assistance, even after a letter last week threatened funding losses.
Kansas Department for Children and Families secretary Laura Howard laid out objections to turning over the data of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program applicants and users in a Monday news release. The data includes Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and more.
“The USDA’s data request is for the purpose of creating a federal database of SNAP participant information that may be disclosed to other entities, and it is unclear whether those entities are legally allowed to access that information,” the release said.
Collecting the extensive dataset, which is more than has been required in the past from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, may cost as much as $100,000, the release said. In addition, the current secure way DCF transfers data to the federal government is not set up to handle that amount of information.
Howard said state finances would be affected by the data collection process.
“We also believe this request places a significant burden on DCF and state resources, and it’s not something that can be accommodated on a short deadline,” Howard said. “Providing this magnitude of data could take months and come with a hefty price tag.”
Gov. Laura Kelly joined a lawsuit with other states challenging whether the data should be turned over, and the press release said it would be appropriate to wait until the lawsuit was decided before sending any information.
Previously, USDA secretary Brooke Rollins said her agency would hold off on requesting the data until the lawsuit was decided.
Beginning in May, DCF refused the USDA’s requests for personal data of SNAP users.
The USDA escalated its push for the information in the letter last week, demanding Kansas officials make “adequate progress towards meeting the data collection requirements,” setting an Aug. 15 deadline to submit a plan to do so.
The letter also said refusing to comply would put SNAP administrative funding at issue.
Kansas leaders stood firm, even as Republicans have lambasted Kelly and Howard for failing to share the information.
Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, challenged Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach last week at the Legislative Coordinating Council meeting to find whether Kelly has the right to withhold the data. He also repeated misinformation that the error rate in the SNAP program is 12%. The most recent error rate is 9.98%, according to the USDA. \
The error rate refers to the percentage of errors found in SNAP applications and is calculated annually.
Kobach told Hawkins he has a team of attorneys investigating that question, and he added that providing information is a requirement for receiving the federal money.
“We certainly know that the federal government has the ability at this stage, if the governor continues to refuse to provide the information, to deny the funds, and I understand that that’s a very substantial amount of money we’re talking about,” Kobach said. “She is putting at risk the receipt of Kansas of those monies, which I guess is sort of ironic, and probably why you asked the question, because that is a very substantial amount of money.”
In 2024, Kansas SNAP recipients received $408 million in benefits.
